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Grace
Baptist Church of Danville December
31, 2017 Happy New Year! — May God be pleased in the days he has appointed us in the
New Year, and beyond, grace to trust Christ. That will make our every year
and every day happy and blessed indeed. Daily Readings for the Week of December
31-January 7, 2018 Sunday Revelation
20-22 Thursday Genesis
12-16 Monday Genesis
1-3 Friday Genesis
17-19 Tuesday Genesis
4-8 Saturday Genesis
20-23 Wednesday Genesis
9-11 Sunday Genesis
24-25 á I am scheduled to
preach Tuesday through Thursday for The Wasilla Grace Fellowship in Wasilla,
Alaska. Bro. Lindsay Campbell will bring the message Tuesday night. á We extend our
deepest sympathy to Mark Medley in the death of his father this past Tuesday. Happy Birthday! Sam Wall-1st Laura Peterson-4th Donna Daniel-5th
Church Cleaning in January: Jim & Susan Grant Nursery Duty This Week: Nicole Abell (AM) Tuesday:
Ruth Wall Another
Year is Gone — Don Fortner (Tune:
#290 — Be Still, My Soul —
10 10.10 10 10.10) 1.
Another year of our brief lives is gone, And countless are
the wonders we have known; How oftÕ weÕve
seen GodÕs blessings rich and rare, Proceeding from
our FatherÕs love and care! Him we adore.
— His goodness we confess, His providence,
all wise, now let us bless. 2.
Our trials how oft weÕve viewed with fearful
eyes, While mercies
great by us have been despised! Ashamed we bow,
and knock at MercyÕs door, Confess our sin,
and plead Your grace the more! Father, Your
grace, Your mercies rich and rare, Should flood our
souls and conquer every fear. 3.
Oh, lift our hearts to Christ exalted high; As the new year
begins, Savior, supply Our souls with
grace, each day by faith to see, Your mercies new,
Your love and grace so free! Oh, give us
grace, each day by faith to see, Your mercies new,
Your love and grace so free! An old preacher addressed
a few believers who had confessed the Lord in baptism and said to them, ÒMy
dear brethren, you have today professedly put on the Lord Jesus Christ. God
help you to be circumspect in your walk and conversation. The church will
watch you, the world will watch you, your doubting friends will watch you,
and enemies of the truth will watch you. God help you to watch yourselves, to
look to him to keep you, to
support you, and to succor you.Ó — Pastor Henry Mahan Witnessing Pastor Henry Mahan ÒGo home to thy friends and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for theeÓ (Mark
5:19). The Lord had shown great mercy to this poor sinner, setting him free
from demons and from sin. Now He tells him to go home to his family and
friends and be the LordÕs witness.
Do not go home and begin to preach. Do not go home and take up the great
doctrines of grace and expound them. Do not go home and strive to bring
everyone to your views and beliefs. Do not go home and condemn all who do not
see what you see. Go home and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you! Not what great
things you have read or heard, but what great things you have experienced! This
is the way to begin our witnessing. There never is a more interesting story
than the story a person has experienced, lived, and felt. If you would really
interest others and get their attention, tell them what great things the Lord
has done in you and for you! Notice, the Lord
said, ÒTell them what great things the
Lord hath done.Ó It is a story of free grace. Not what we did, willed, or gave, but what He did
for us by his own free, sovereign, and undeserved love. We will not convince
them nor change them any more than another man could convert us. But the Lord, who did great things for
us, can do great things for them if He is so pleased. And He is pleased to
use the faithful witness of those who go and tell Òhow great things the
Lord hath done for thee.Ó ————————————————————————— Thou
Hast dealt well with Thy Servant, O LordÓ Psalm
119:65 Let every redeemed sinner serving God with
a willing heart acknowledge the LordÕs unfailing goodness to him. Truly, he
has dealt well with all his servants, according to his Word. In addition to
the immeasurable riches of his grace to us in Christ, our great God has
constantly loaded our days with goodness in providence! He promised, ÒThere shall no evil happen to the just.Ó
And no evil has ever befallen one of GodÕs elect. Much that we experience
appears to be evil at the time. We may, in our unbelief, even look upon it as
evil. But God has proved himself faithful. Looking back upon the things we
thought were most evil at the time we experienced them, we now can say, ÒI
thank God that happened. I praise him for that experience. By that which I
thought was evil, good has come to me; and good has come to a brother here
and a sister there.Ó It
is good to acknowledge the goodness of our God when we see it; but it is far
better and far more honoring to him to acknowledge the goodness of his
providence when nothing good can be seen, except by the eye of faith. When I
can look up to my Father with tears burning my cheeks and sorrow crushing my
heart and say with confident faith, ÒThou
hast dealt well with thy servant,Ó then I will have proved the reality of
my faith. Whatever my God has done or allowed to be done for me, with me, or
to me, he has done me good. The same is true of you. So let us, with glad
hearts, acknowledge now what we will acknowledge when all things are set in
their true light — ÒThou hast
dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy Word.Ó ÒTeach us to Number Our DaysÓ Psalms 90:12 How quickly the time passes! How rapidly
things in this world change! Here is a prayer I find in my heart almost
unceasingly. It is a prayer that weighs more heavily upon my soul with every
passing year. — ÒSo teach me to number my days, that I may apply my
heart unto wisdom.Ó Of all
mathematical problems, this is the most difficult. Men can number their herds
and their flocks. They can estimate the revenues of their farms and
businesses with relative ease. We can count our cash, balance our checkbooks,
and calculate what our retirement income should be. Mortality Yet, mortal man foolishly imagines that he
is immortal. Most are persuaded that their days are innumerable. Therefore,
they do not number them. We look at a strong young man, one who watches his
diet, exercises regularly, and seems to sparkle with life, and say, ÒHe has a
long life ahead of him.Ó And we look at an old woman, weak, worn, wrinkled,
and ever weary, and say, ÒShe will not be with us very long. Her days are
few.Ó Thus, we imagine that we can number the days of others; but few will
number his own days. What folly! It is evident that the great thing needed to persuade us to prepare for eternity is the
persuasion of our own mortality and the brevity of our lives in this
world. We will not apply our hearts unto wisdom until we are brought to the
numbering of our days. Yet, none will number his days and apply his heart
unto wisdom until he is taught of God to do so. Thus, Moses prayed, ÒSo teach us to number our days, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom.Ó Eternity As we reflect upon the brevity of time, we
ought to be persuaded to set our thoughts upon things that are eternal. As we
look into the grave, which must soon be our bed, we ought to be humbled and
made to know how frail we are. But we are not wise. Only the grace of God
will cause a mortal man to number his days and apply his heart unto wisdom.
Let this, then, be your prayer and mine, as we stand here, at the close of
the year and look forward toward the dawn of the new year tomorrow. — ÒSo teach us to number our days, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom.Ó A sense of mortality ought to make us
wise and cause us to apply our hearts unto wisdom. Christ Christ is the Wisdom to which we must apply
our hearts. He is that Wisdom that is Òbetter
than rubies,Ó to which nothing that can be desired may be compared
(Proverbs 8:11). He was made of God unto us Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30) and
stood as our Wisdom Òfrom everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth wasÓ (Proverbs 8:23-24). From old
eternity his delights were with us, and are with us still (Proverbs 8:30-31;
Hebrews 13:8). O
my heart, make Christ your delight! Blessed Holy Spirit, graciously,
effectually, and constantly set my heart upon my Savior! Ever cause me to apply my heart to Christ, setting my
affection upon him who loved me and gave himself for me! Set my heart upon
his blood and righteousness, his love and mercy, his goodness and grace. Set
my heart upon his fullness and his forgiveness, upon his will and his glory.
Oh, set my heart upon Christ, upon heaven, upon eternity, that I might live
only unto him all the days of my life! Church of Danville 2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky
40422-9438 Telephone (859)
576-3400 — Email Don@DonFortner.com Web Pages Schedule of
Regular Services Sunday 10:00
A.M. Bible
Classes 10:30
A.M. Morning
Worship Services 6:30 P.M. Evening
Worship Service Tuesday 7:30 P.M. Mid-Week
Worship Service Don Fortner |
Pastor FortnerÕs |